Challenging the Idea of Earning Food through Exercise

I’ve seen it a lot (I’ve done it myself): the post-race picture of a beer and hamburger with the caption “After running xx miles I deserve this!” Or the glass of wine or the brownie sundae or the pizza or the countless other foods that “we shouldn’t eat” because they aren’t “clean,” but we do eat when we want to reward ourselves…when we have “earned” it.

I didn’t broadcast in the caption that I’d earned this, but it did come the evening of a long-run morning. Which probably made me feel “better” about the “indulgence” of an alcoholic beverage and pizza. Also, I am very proud of my pizza creation it is delicious and makes an appearance on our weekly menu quite frequently.

I’m not sure why, perhaps it is my history fighting disordered eating and distorted views towards food, but the whole concept doesn’t sit right with me. Why do we feel like we must “earn” food through exercise?

It is not a new concept. It is on some level fact: at one point we DID have to earn our food. We gathered. We hunted. We reaped. We sowed. It was hard work. In the past food was earned through sweat and labor, now we drive in a car, to sit at a desk, to make the money, to drive in a car, to walk around a store to earn our food. But this is not the norm for most. Most of the world still earns their food through sweat and labor and often it is not enough, there is constant need: hungry mouths wanting more.

The phenomenon of earning food through exercise comes exclusively from a culture of abundance. Sport and exercise is the hobby of those who have. It’s not wrong, it just is. [If you want to explore this idea more the book (also a PBS series,Guns, Germ and Steel by Jared Diamond is a fascinating exploration in the disparity between cultures.] Many of us are blessed: the circumstances we were born into mean we have never gone hungry. And maybe that is why we have a slightly distorted view of food, not that going hungry is beneficial or good, but that in a culture of abundance it is hard to have perspective that true hunger brings.

And just as there has always been hunger and want, there has also been feasting. Calendars of cultures past have always been dotted with feast: seasonal celebrations of abundance. Periods of hard work and labor followed by times of celebration with…food! Our present day calendar is similarly dotted with festive occasions, there’s just a lot less physical labor. Maybe that’s why we exercise? Some primal need to move to the point of exhaustion: to make the feast “worth it.”

Even with all this the idea of earning food through exercise still doesn’t sit right with me. Maybe I’m just hyper-aware of my relationship with food, wanting to keep it as free as it has become in the past four years. I haven’t quite figured it out.

What do you think? Is the idea of earning food through exercise healthy? How can you celebrate with food in a healthy way?

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Very well said, Sarah! I think that it is definitely unhealthy thinking to “earn” our food because we exercised. Conversely, “punishing” ourselves with exercise as penance for eating is just as unhealthy. I am hyper-aware of how I talk about food and exercise around my kids, and I am very conscious of how they view them–they eat when they’re hungry, incorporate vigorous exercise as a natural byproduct of being 4 and 7, and don’t think of them as a punishments or rewards. We can all learn from kids! Have a great weekend!

I agree with you – in my most disordered days, I had to “earn” every single calorie. That is no way to live (literally, you will die). Now, though, I am working on ignoring all my “rules” and just…eating. I eat the healthy food I want at meals. If I want avocado, I have it. Do I want a piece of bread? Go ahead. I battle with that controlling voice in my head, but overall its been a positive change. And what I’ve found is that I don’t want the junk food, and I’ve lost weight. It goes against everything I ever told myself, but I’m happier and healthier for it!

Good for you Annie! I’ve found the same thing to be true. The more I take away the self imposed rules the healthier and more balanced my eating is. Not because it is the least amount of calories, but because it is what makes me feel good.

There are probably many other cultures throughout the world that must think we’re crazy. Running for no apparent reason and then having to eat more to compensate – or justifying eating more with running.
I know I’ve been guilty of thinking “I’ll have a slice of cake because that was a good long run”…it’s not a good way of thinking. It should be just “enjoy running” and “enjoy eating”. End of!

Very good points Sarah… I had never really thought about it before, but I definitely think that way… Oh, I can eat this, because I ran this morning, or did Zumba… And most of the time, when I think that way, I end up eating back all the calories I burned and then some… Kind of a waste! It is better to just stick to the, I run, because I love running… and I eat because I am hungry. Thank you for the post!!! You are awesome 🙂

I definitely do this too! And like you I eat back all the calories I’ve burned. It’s a fine balance between refueling and sometimes celebrating a hard accomplishment and also indulging once and a while because complete restriction always backfires.

I see this a lot too but I kind of ignore it. I just point blank don’t restrict what I eat or worry about it and it usually works out well. Is it delicious? Do I feel like it? Is it nutritious? That’s the extent of my thought process about food. Or sometimes, is this good for the environment/people/animals/my body. But only sometimes 🙂

I don’t reward myself with food but I do feel like I can eat more when I’m working out and running more. Several weeks back, after having surgery and not being able to work out for a few weeks, I cut back on my eating because I wasn’t balancing it out as much. I just feel like it is more a matter of trying not to let my intake be more than what I’m expending.

I only ever want food to be nourishment which meets the needs of my body. Is this always the reality? No, but when I have that perspective, it frees me to eat without “keeping score” which I used to do to the extreme at one point in my life.

I am guilty of this one… Typically I am not that strict about what I eat. I do try to eat a bit “cleaner” leading up to a race. I try think more about Fueling my body. But then I guess I like to celebrate with something delicious after!